Australian Forester Talks on Ancient Timber Contracts

H. F. Swain, well known Australian forester, recently talked to the Australian Bush Fires Advisory Committee of Australia, and gave the following discussion of ancient timber deals, that was received with much interest, says the Disston Crucible. Said Mr. Swain:

"Since the Druids practiced their mystic rites among the oak groves of Britain, and the Shinto priests of Japan practiced silviculture some thousands of years B. C. in the vicinity of their temples, and since the Brahmins appointed their Masters of the Forests, and placed them in charge of the huntsmen who cleared the land ofwild beasts and of fowls which devoured the seeds, the practice of forestry has acquired a material trend, so that today it concerns itself with the unromantic factory production of wood upon a mathematically calculated scale.

"The first really practical organization recorded in history appears to be that of the King Solomon-King Hiram co-partnership on the mountains of Lebanon .in Syria, where at an elevation of over 4000 feet, among a succession of the hardest limestone crests and ridges, bristling with bare rock and crag, and divided by grassy ravines, among purple rhododendrons, geraniums, violets and buttercups, goodly cedars of Lebanon grew in scattered groves of gnarled and branchy trees, 50 to 8O feet.in height, with numerous large horizontal branches I trees which would be despised by an Australian bushman, yet trees made glorious by the scriptural facts as 'the excellent cedar,. high and lifted up, its top among the thick boughs, its long branches and its shadowing shroud.'

"The Mount Lebanon forest in the time of Solomon and Hiram rvas a timber reserve. In the year 332 B. C. King Alexander the Great made forest history by declaring it to be the first state forest, and today theMount Lebanon state forest still survives with 100 or so cedars yet remaining, where the Maronites and the Druses now hold sway and do battle against the Frank invader.

"The Solomon-Hiram transactions were purely business transactions in timber. The only difierence between the transactions of then and of now is that the poesy of yesterday has vanished, and the hard commercial diction of 1927 takes the place of the gtaces and the loving-kindness of the business correspondence of the kings.

"Solomon, as you will remember, 'had wisdom and understanding exceeding much and largeness of heart even as the sand that is on the seashore. He spake 3000 proverbs, and his songs were a thousand fine. He spake of

Lumberman Visits Yosemite

G. M. Harrington, of MacDonald_ & Harringfon, San Francisco, accompanied by his family, spent Decoration Day and the week ehd following in a trip to the Yosemite Vallev.

Earl Morrissn In California On Honeymoon Trip

EarlR. Morrisoh, of the Ebstern & Western Lumber Company, Portland, Ore., who was married in Portland, June 1, is making an automobile tour of,'California with his b.ride which will take them as far south as Tijuana, Me:o trees, fromthe cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall.'

-'"He conceived the idea of building a temple. Even temples depend upon forests for their building, and Solomon dictated a business letter, of which the following is an exact modern rendering:

"'Dear Sir: As you are doubtless aware, my late lamented father, David, had in mind the erection of a temple, but, owing to the long continuance of war, the proposal had to be indefinitely deferred. It is my intention to proceed with this undertaking forthwith. In connection therewith I should be glad if you would be good enough to undertake the supply of material, for which your firm has a welldeserved reputation. I am prepared to finance the proposition throughout. Yours faithfully,

"The reply of King Hiram in the cause was equally businesslike:

"

'Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your letter of recent date, and beg to advise you that I am prepared to undertake the contrac! for the supply of cedar and fir from Mount Lebanoh r€serve, delivered c.i.f. and e. Joppa. My terms are cost, plus a percentage. The basic wage to be paid my employees, consisting of measures of beaten wheat and baths of oil and wine, as set out hereunder. Yours faithfullY'

"For his purposes Solomon rounded up all the strangers in fsrael, 3000 of them, and put them on shifts, one month at Lebanon and one at home. In addition, Hiram had 7O; 00O carriers and 80,000 hewers under 300O gangers appointed by Solomon. In the highfaluting and most alluring phraseology of the day Hiram then declared: 'With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the top of the mountains to the heights of Lebanon, and I will cut down the cedar trees thereof and the fir trees thereof.'

"The first materials were assembled after four years' work, the foundations were laid, and the building was completed in seven years. It measured about 90 feet by .3O feet, and was 45 feet high; and were the measures of beaten wheat and baths of oil and wine transposed into the arbitration court basic wage of the day, the cost to the country of King Solomon's Temple u'as well over 250,000,000 pounds. After the temple was completed he built a house for himself, which took 13 years to complete, and he then paid Hiram a bonus on the job, consisting of 20 cities in Galilee."

KERCKHOFF-CUZNER YARD AT AZUSA ENLARGES OFFICES

The Kerckhoft-Cuzner Lurnber Company at Azusa, California, has completed the extensive additions to the local office and is now occupying the new quarters.

CHUCK GRIFFEN ATTENDS ROTARY CONVENTIOT{

C. H. (Chuck) Griffen, Jr., of the Homer T. Ilayward Lumber Co., Santa Cruz, has just returned from a trip to Dallas, Tex., where he attended the International Rotary Club Convention.